Line Inspectors: Treading the Mountain, Crossing the Snow To Guarantee the Power Supply

SHIHEZI, China, Feb. 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- On February 4th, the seventh day of the first lunar month, the General Mountain in Shihezi City was enveloped in boundless whiteness. Early in the morning, Zhang Lin and Lü Yimeng, employees of the Transmission Operation and Maintenance Center of State Grid Kuitun Power Supply Company, set off with binoculars and drones to conduct special inspections on the 220 - kV Fengshixi I and II lines after the snowfall.

The 220 - kV Fengshixi I and II lines were put into operation in 2012. They are important power connection lines in the Eighth Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps and Shihezi City, undertaking the power supply to Shihezi urban area and surrounding enterprises. There are 20 tower pylons of this line located in the mountains where few people set foot, and for many tower positions, vehicles cannot reach. Zhang Lin and Lü Yimeng can only rely on hiking and drones to complete the inspection tasks.

Recently, affected by the cold air, the Shihezi area has once again welcomed heavy snowfall, with the lowest temperature dropping to minus 25 degrees Celsius, and the electricity load has been continuously rising. To ensure the reliable power supply of the grid, State Grid Kuitun Power Supply Company has formulated a detailed special inspection plan, clarifying the inspection scope, personnel division of labor, and emergency measures. It has organized staff to conduct special inspections on 35 transmission lines above 35 kV, focusing on the inspection of tower poles and their foundations, guy wires, and wire - attached equipment. They promptly clean the snow, ice, and debris on tower poles, wires, etc., to ensure the safe and stable operation of the grid in extreme weather.

Entering the mountains, everything around was white, and on the quiet mountain road, only the sound of feet stepping on the snow, "creak, creak", could be heard. "Be sure to step on my footprints. Don't just look at the lines and ignore the road. Be careful not to sprain your ankle," Zhang Lin said, walking forward and reminding Lü Yimeng behind him. Zhang Lin, who is nearly fifty years old, has been working for 30 years. This is the 25th year he has been on duty for line inspection during the Spring Festival. It is also the fourth year that Lü Yimeng has partnered with him to be on duty for line inspection during the Spring Festival.

"The road is much easier to walk on now. Most places can be reached by vehicles. When I first started inspecting the lines, there were almost no roads in the mountains. All the paths were stepped out by us line inspectors one footprint after another," Zhang Lin said to Lü Yimeng behind him as he walked. Zhang Lin was like a tour guide. Every time he reached the bottom of a tower pole, he would tell Lü Yimeng its past and present. The tower poles that seemed identical to others were full of stories in Zhang Lin's eyes. He was familiar with every tower base, every insulator, every screw, and every angle steel.

After arriving at the inspection point, Zhang Lin carefully checked the monitors on the tower, observed the sag changes of the conductors and ground wires with binoculars, carefully inspected whether the fittings, insulators, and wire clamps were in good condition, and checked the snow and ice conditions on the surface of the lines. Lü Yimeng recorded the icing conditions of the equipment in detail. As time passed, Zhang Lin and Lü Yimeng's hats and eyelashes were already covered with "frost flowers", and with each breath, puffs of "white smoke" came out of their mouths.

Since the beginning of winter, according to the characteristics of the jurisdiction, combined with the load operation curves of previous years and the load increase calculation of electric heating, State Grid Kuitun Power Supply Company has formulated a power supply guarantee plan for peak - winter periods. It has strengthened the monitoring of transformer areas, adopted methods such as load transfer and orderly power consumption to solve the problems of over - load and heavy - load. For construction sites, winter farmland irrigation areas, etc., it has carried out anti - external damage publicity through the "transformer area manager + grid - based service" to effectively reduce the risk of external damage, and has taken multiple measures to wage an "active battle" for power supply guarantee.

State Grid Kuitun Power Supply Company also pays close attention to the operation of the grid in extremely bad weather, timely analyzes the problems and weak links of the grid and equipment, increases the detection efforts of grid voltage quality and the carrying capacity of public transformers, and strengthens the special inspections of important places and lines for people's livelihood guarantee such as heating, gas supply, and water supply.

In the vast white mountains, rows of winding footprints were left on the white snow. During this Spring Festival holiday, there are many power grid employees like Zhang Lin and Lü Yimeng who stick to their posts. They fulfill their duties, make silent contributions, and add a special "Spring Festival flavor" to the New Year with their dedicated attitude and hard work.

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SOURCE State Grid Kuitun Power Supply Company